Devotion - What We Know So Far
Director J.D. Dillard is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. He broke onto the scene in a big way with the sci-fi thriller "Sleight," which told an original tale set within the superhero genre. He followed that up with the horror film "Sweetheart," and he'll venture into a completely different genre with his next movie.
Variety reported in September 2020 that Dillard's subsequent feature would be a larger-budget war epic titled "Devotion." It's an immensely personal project for the filmmaker, who told Deadline, "Growing up, military service was certainly something I was interested in. I went through the application process for both the Naval Academy and West Point. It was certainly a path I was interested in, and obviously by way of my dad, I have always been fascinated by aviation."
It'll undoubtedly be a different war movie than what general audiences have seen before. Here's everything else you need to know about "Devotion" before it's released.
What's the release date for Devotion?
There's currently no release date set for "Devotion." The article from Variety stated that filming would begin in February of 2021, and if social media is to be believed, it sounds as though principal photography has already ended. Actor Glen Powell posted some behind-the-scenes photos from the film set to his Instagram page, accompanied by the caption: "The End of an Era." Granted, that wording could mean anything, but he could be referring to the end of filming.
With such an exciting director like Dillard helming a high-budget war movie, there could definitely be awards in the film's future. As such, a release date later this year wouldn't be out of the question. Depending on how long the post-production process takes, the film could wind up in theaters by the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022 to receive consideration for the Academy Awards. Keep checking back with Looper for more details on "Devotion" as they come to light.
Who's in the cast for Devotion?
Jonathan Majors is one of the most exciting actors working today. He received an Emmy nomination for Best Actor for his performance in "Lovecraft Country," and he shocked audiences everywhere when he appeared in the Season 1 finale of "Loki" as some version of Kang the Conqueror. That's not even including his powerhouse roles in "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" and "Da 5 Bloods." He's not slowing down in the slightest, and in addition to popping up in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" and "Creed III," he'll take on the lead role in "Devotion."
Majors will have plenty of back-up, as the cast is also set to include Glen Powell ("Set It Up"), Serinda Swan ("Marvel's Inhumans"), and Thomas Sadoski ("The Newsroom"). Joe Jonas of The Jonas Brothers has also joined the cast in his first dramatic role. He's previously appeared in comedies like "Zoolander 2" and "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation." It seems as though he wants to follow in his brother Kevin's footsteps, who starred in another war epic — "Midway" — in 2019.
What's the plot of Devotion?
"Devotion" follows the incredible true story behind the book "Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice," written by Adam Makos (via Collider). The plot follows two aviation pilots who come from different backgrounds but learn to work together for the greater good of their country in the middle of the Korean War.
The first pilot is Jesse Brown (Majors), the son of a sharecropper who would become the first Black carrier pilot in the Navy. He risked his life for his country while facing discrimination back home. The second is Tom Hudner (Powell), who had a dissimilar upbringing. He came from a massively wealthy family, spending more of his time in country clubs than dealing with the plights of the majority of Americans. However, when the war broke out, he rejected the opportunity to attend Harvard to help out with the fight.
In an interview with Deadline, Dillard expressed his excitement of tackling this particular story: "I thought 'What an incredible opportunity to honor the story of these men and the many more people who were involved in this conflict that really hasn't found its way to screen very often.'" It's a film that clearly means a lot to those working on it, so you won't want to miss it.